FEATURED ARTIST: ANDREAHRNJAK

The wooded path to grandma’s house will look very different through the eyes of this week’s Featured Artist Andreahrnjak. Notorious fairy tale villains take on a magical new luster and — before you know it — the big bad wolf isn’t so bad and the wicked witch isn’t so wicked. Andreahrnjak’s art is filled with whimsical visions of wolves, witches, and phases of the moon. She describes them as “wild but delicate, witchy and tempting” and they offer a refuge from the outside world.

Andreahrnjak, or Andrea, confesses to having “an incurable case of wanderlust” and has spent time traveling in places like Germany, Austria, the U.S.A., and China. She is currently in Croatia “trying to reconnect with my Slavic roots” and is excited to continue exploring new places and finding inspiration for her artwork. Her constant travel companion, a beloved Czechoslovakian Wolfdog named Arna, helps her explore the woods near her home; she admits that being with Arna in nature is when she can “truly feel like myself.” Her artwork shines brightly with this love of nature and is a unique combination of the freedom she finds in the woods and the “old Slavic witchy fairy tales and myths” that she grew up with as a child.

She shares, “I was a very introverted child and drawing and reading was my safe place as well as taking refuge with nature along with my furry friends.” She admits that creating and sharing her art can be difficult because it is “very personal which also makes me very vulnerable.” Still, she loves when she can connect with someone through her art and offer comfort and a safe space. She says that it is in moments like these that she is confident as an artist and that she feels her “heart is in the right place.”